Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Ley Lines (1999)

To finalize his thematically connected Black Society Trilogy, Takashi Miike goes for a combination of the
first two (Shinjuku Triad Society and
Rainy Dog) for the third entry Ley Lines. While this idea seems very
promising at its conception, the resulting mix that arrives in Ley Lines is a tad underwhelming
particularly when the expectations are so high. The film is still an ambitious
and artistic venture into the world of outsiders and their connection to
organized crime and certainly deserves a lot of praise thrown its way, but it’s
not nearly as entertaining in its grit nor is it as stylized in its
characterizations as the previous entries. On its own, it’s still an
accomplished work showing Miike’s directorial pizzazz at being able to weave
exploitative elements with dramatic heft and thoughtful exploration of its
themes, but at the same time the film tends to fall off balance with a few
sequences that undercut the whole.

Two brothers and their close friend have had a rough go
living in Japan. This is because they are of Chinese parents and no one will
let them forget that they don’t belong. So it’s their intent to leave, but to
do so they will have to earn some money and some contacts to get out of the
country and this leads them to leave home and try and find their way in
Shinjuku, Tokyo. Unfortunately, the easiest and fastest way to earn some cash
is working with the underbelly of the criminal activity, but it’s also the most
dangerous.

The future...is staring back at them.

Ley Lines is a
film that at times, particularly in the first act of the film, is a throwback
to the ‘wild youth’ films of decades past in Japanese cinema. Perhaps this
parallel has to do with my recent viewing of films like the Stray Cat Rock
series, but Ley Lines starts off
using this concept of youth that are disconnected and not content with their
placement in life and it bleeds into the Miike theme of outsiders in a rather
smooth manner. The film goes for the more vague character builds that Miike has
made a staple of his career and it introduces us to three young men attempting to
run away and make something out of their lives. There is a lot of fun “in the
moment” sequences here that build their relationships nicely, albeit in a vague
manner, and the performances are phenomenal to add the layering needed to hook
it’s audience. This first act is something impressive in the ways of dramatic
build and it kicks off the film nicely, particularly when you get a great
opening scene like the one where Ryuichi, played with intensity by Kitamura, attempts to get a passport to leave
Japan.

However, it’s the second act where things start to feel
unfocused and meander a bit too far. The addition of a more complex series of criminal
activities to complicate matters and the arrival of a new character, a Shanghai
prostitute, pull away too much from the intended focus. There are moments where
this can work, seeing how she is just as used by the cruel men around her as
these young friends are. However, moments were some of the black humor doesn’t
work – including a very abrasive sexual encounter – detract from the message a
bit too much. The same goes with some of the yakuza aspects. There are a
handful of characters form the criminal realm that arrive that don’t add much
to the narrative outside of being the “other” that our protagonists fight
against. In the end, most of it still works, but there are moments where the
flow and effective execution stumbles just a bit.

It's okay to look back.

Ley Lines is still
a solid piece of cinema from Miike that uses its themes to deliver a thought
provoking message, especially in the third act as things start to crumble
around our protagonists. The execution is decently strong in visuals and in
performances, but the writing just wavers a bit too much here and there in
meandering subplots to have the full impact it might have. While I know this
feeling of being underwhelmed tends to be the minority of critical opinions on
the film, it still come be that it comes paired with two other brilliant Miike
yakuza films in the Black Society Trilogy.
Fans are certain to like it if not love it, but try to consume it on its own
merits rather than continually comparing it to the other two.

ARROW FEATURES:

Black Society Trilogy

High Definition digital transfers of all three films

Original uncompressed PCM stereo audio

Optional English subtitles for all three films

New interview with director Takashi Miike

New interview with actor Show Aikawa (Rainy Dog, Ley Lines)

New audio commentaries for all three films by Miike biographer Tom Mes

No comments:

Post a Comment

Osaka Asian Film Festival 2018

Welcome To Blood Brothers!

Here at Blood Brothers we, cult fan brothers Eric and Matt, are dedicated to bringing reviews to some of the worlds best (and worst, depending on your taste) cult like films from around this large globe. Whether it be Horror, Science Fiction, Kung Fu, or any other cult like genre - we are your first and last stop for all your review needs. Unapologetically kvlt.

Feel free to comment on our reviews, we love to hear your thoughts on movies or the reviews as long as its meaningful and thought out. Any slanderous comments (for the sake of it) will be erased though, so be thoughtful with what you say.

All movie ratings out of are out of 5 BLOOD DROPS. Our blood drop rating is located at the end of our reviews.

Note: A very special thanks goes out to our friend Bill, who with his connections, technical support, and wizardry with photoshop has kept this website going. Many of the films reviewed here would never have been reviewed if it weren't for his abilities. THANKS BILL! We can never thank you enough!